The Lost Library of Cormanthy - Mel Odom [96]
Forcing himself to relax, Baylee said, "In some respects, I suppose the comparisons are inevitable. We operate from the same deep purses. The grave robbers demand the money after they've made the discovery. Explorers ask benefactors to put the money up ahead of time, wheedling and pleading, and showing as much of the information as they dare so that it is not stolen and used by someone else. In the end, all the items that are worthwhile and are recovered end up in the same museums and collectors' hands. Only the prices differ. A thief won't care about the history that goes with a particular piece, but an explorer will learn from it first before passing it along. In fact, many of an explorer's discoveries will be of things that are not of gold or silver. Codices to a forgotten language, for example."
"So it wasn't unusual for Golsway to deal with someone like Uziraff?"
"No. In fact, most of the business we did involved dealings with people like him. And much worse." Baylee handed another section of orange to Xuxa. "There are some who lure a willing buyer into a remote location to close the sale, then kill him and seek out yet another buyer."
"When we see Uziraff, will we be able to trust him?"
"If we don't let him out of our sight."
"He has a crew and a ship?"
"Yes."
Cthulad made a sighing noise. "Have you considered the fact that there are only two of us-"
Three, Xuxa added.
"Three," Cthulad corrected himself, "of us who are walking into this pirate's den to strike a deal with him?"
"There is no one else to deal with," Baylee stated simply.
"It will be hard to hold him accountable to any bargain we may strike. Unless you know something I don't."
"If we try to hold him accountable by force," Baylee said, "he'll know he has something worth a great deal. It would make him even harder to bargain with."
Cthulad gazed out over the open sea for a time. "I'd feel better if we had a small group of battle-hardened men."
"If that were the case," Baylee said, "we wouldn't even find Uziraff."
"What is it Uziraff has?"
"The location to a shipwreck that happened during the Flight of the Elves from Myth Drannor," Baylee explained. Then he embellished the story, bringing in all the details of Faimcir Glitterwing that Golsway had told him.
When he finished, Cthulad said, "Evidently the library is guarded by someone with a lot of power. Even if you are able to divine the library's location from something in the shipwreck, there remains that to consider."
"I know," Baylee said. "But I'm working on this expedition only one miracle at a time."
"Perhaps it would be better to ask for help from Waterdeep. They have shown an interest And I've some knowledge of Lord Piergeiron."
"You know him?"
"We've met."
Suspicions filled Baylee's head. Xuxa?
His thoughts are unreadable to me, the azmyth bat responded. But everything I can sense about him and his reasons for joining us are nothing but good and honorable.
"Lord Piergeiron would undoubtedly be interested in your mission," the old ranger went on. "I prefer to chart my own course for the time," Baylee stated evenly. "Gifted as Lord Piergeiron may be in other matters, this is my field of experience." "I understand perfectly," Cthulad replied. "I only sought to offer an alternative that may be more palatable at a later date." "We'll consider it then," Baylee said. "Until such time, I still have to find Uziraff." ***** "Shouldn't we have overtaken Kerrijan's Hammer by now?" Cordyan Tsald asked, shading her eyes as she peered out over the Sea of Swords.
"Thirteen hours to be precise," Westalfe Sternrudder replied. The dwarf captain stood beside Cordyan on the specially built box in the prow of his ship that gave him a higher perspective than his short size would normally have provided. He was thick-bodied and able, with a square-cut black beard and a weathered, pinched face. "And we lay fallow for two days early on in this venture, as I'm sure you recall, while waiting for the winds to become more favorable. There was every chance that Kerrijan's Hammer wasn't so encum?bered by