Temple Hill - Drew Karpyshyn [57]
"We're lucky," Corin said after she left, "the friendly one's working tonight."
Lhasha smiled, then realized it wasn't a joke. She looked around in a slightly bemused state of mild revulsion.
This place is a dump," she finally whispered. "Why would anyone ever come here?"
"It's cheap and nobody bothers you," Corin explained.
The waitress returned and slammed a goblet down on the table in front of Lhasha then limped off without a word.
The half-elf took a dubious sniff of the cup, then cautiously raised it up to her mouth. She paused, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Corin, there's a bug in my wine!"
"Just one?"
Lhasha set the goblet down and pushed it away without taking a sip. "Suddenly I don't think I need that drink anymore."
Corin shrugged, but otherwise had no comment.
Lhasha drummed her fingers on the table. "So what do we do next?" she wondered aloud.
Once she realized there wasn't going to be a reply from the other end of the table, the half-elf continued, talking the problem out loud to herself, more than anything.
"We didn't get the package, so we won't get paid," she said with a frown. "And we left Fendel's ladder and bar spreader behind. Those weren't cheap. Worst job I've ever done, bar none. I'll probably even have to give back the down payment when I go to rendezvous with the contact."
"He won't be there," Corin said simply. "We weren't supposed to survive."
"You still think this was all an elaborate set-up?" Lhasha asked incredulously. "That doesn't make any sense. If someone wanted me dead, why go to all this trouble?"
"This wasn't about you. You were expendable, a pawn. This was cult business."
Lhasha laughed. "Cult business? You missed your calling, Corin. With an imagination like that you should have been a bard, spinning stories for kings and emperors."
"But," she added after a moment's thought, "that snake thing-naga, you called it? It seems like the kind of creature that would be working for the Cult of the Dragon.
"And the cult is heavily involved in illegal smuggling," Lhasha continued, not even bothering to wait for Corin to jump into the conversation. "Everyone knows they secretly own several of the warehouses in the Caravan district. Plus, my contact said one of the reasons he hired me was my lack of cult affiliation."
She shook her head emphatically, rejecting her own arguments. "No, I'm still not convinced. Why even bother sending me in there if he expected me to fail?"
"He's trying to flush them out," Corin answered.
Lhasha nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. Forcing their hand, smoking them out. That's possible. Even a failed burglary could spook them. Make them move then-precious package. Take it to a new location, maybe move it right out of the city.
"But who was he working for?" the half-elf mused. "And what about all the money he paid me up front?"
"The cult has lots of enemies. Powerful enemies."
"That's true," Lhasha admitted. "There's a lot of groups that would be willing to throw away a bag of gems if it meant causing trouble for the Cult of the Dragon." She chewed thoughtfully on her hp. "Yanseldara's been trying to drive the dragon worshipers out of her city once and for all. I hear she has Harper connections. The Harpers are working to bring down the cult."
"This isn't the Harpers' style."
"Yeah, you've got a point there. Fendel's run across them a few times, and from what he's told me the Harpers wouldn't send someone in to be an unsuspecting sacrifice. It goes against everything they stand for."
"The Masks?" Corin suggested.
"They've been warring with the cult for control of Elversult's underground for years," Lhasha conceded, "but I doubt the Purple Masks were involved. My contact made a point of telling me I was hired because I wasn't connected with the Masks, either. Given my current relationship with the local guild, the last thing they'd want is to give me a job."
After a moment, the half-elf reconsidered. "Unless they tried to kill two birds with one stone. Cause trouble for the cult by sending in