The Floodgate - Elaine Cunningham [41]
But Sinestra seemed to have taken this in stride. Her gaze swept over Tzigone's blue robe, and her painted lips curved in a half smile. "A conjurer's apprentice. Last time we met you were a full-fledged illusionist. Come down in the world, have you?"
"Depends. You should have seen me an hour ago."
Sinestra's eyes lit up. "I wish I had. I'm sure it would have been quite instructive."
Tzigone folded her arms. "Excuse me?"
The wizard handed her a bit of parchment. "This is a note from Cassia, the king's jordain. She wrote to me shortly before she was killed, naming you as a thief. Is there any truth to that?"
"She's dead. That's true enough."
Sinestra hissed with exasperation. "Do you see a squadron of the city militia cooling themselves in my shadow? If you admit to being a thief, I'll not only be discrete, I'll be thrilled!"
This strange encounter was beginning to make sense to Tzigone. "You want to hire a thief to retrieve something for you."
"In a manner of speaking. I want to hire a thief to teach me the trade."
Tzigone's gaze slid over the woman. Her hair was dressed in elaborate black ringlets. A fortune in blue topaz draped her bosom and matched the watered blue silk of her gown and slippers. "You don't need to steal. You already have more than you know what to do with."
"That's precisely the point! I have everything I could possibly want, and I'm bored out of my wits," the woman announced. She rose abruptly. "Walk with me."
They fell into step, walking in silence down the tree-lined street. After a few moments Tzigone got down to business. "What do you want to retrieve?"
"My sanity," Sinestra said bluntly. "I am afflicted with ennui-gravely afflicted, a mere heartbeat away from running screaming through the streets!"
"So do what other over-pampered noblewomen do. Take a lover."
Sinestra lifted one ebony brow. "I said I'm bored, not stupid. Might I remind you that I'm married to a diviner? Not a particularly powerful one, but he's got enough talent to indulge his suspicions."
"Short leash?" Tzigone commiserated.
The wizard hooked one finger under her necklace and tugged at it in a parody of a chokehold. "My lord Belajoon has encircled me with spells warding against such sport."
"So what makes you think you could make a thief?"
"Because old Belajoon doesn't expect it of me," Sinestra retorted. She sighed heavily. "By wind and word, I have to get away with something, or I'll go mad!"
Since Tzigone had spent the better part of the day as a street urchin, avoiding her wizardly studies in favor of one bit of mischief after another, this was a sentiment she understood. She gnawed her lower lip for a moment. "How serious are you about this?"
"How serious is a necromancer about death?" Sinestra shot back. "Teach me, and I'll do whatever you say."
Tzigone lifted one hand to her head and ruffled her shorn locks. "Would you cut your hair like this?"
The wizard paled. She stopped walking and squeezed her eyes shut. But after a moment she focused a resolute gaze upon her chosen mentor. "Yes," she said stoutly.
Tzigone grinned and patted Sinestra's arm. "Forget it. A thief needs to use every advantage she has. You'd be the center of attention in the midst of a wizardwar, just by showing up. We'll figure out a way to make that pay."
The older woman grimaced. "I thought I had. I hope you can come up with something more interesting."
In response, Tzigone handed her a small book. "As I recall, you enjoy gossip. These things always contain a few priceless nuggets."
Sinestra's eyes bulged when she recognized her own grimoire, a spellbook that contained a wizard's most personal spells and secrets. After a moment, she burst out laughing. "Oh, this is going to be great fun!"
"That's what I keep telling a friend of mine," Tzigone observed with a grin.
"You're much easier to convince than he is."
Sinestra's brows lifted. "So there's a 'he,'