The Wizardwar - Elaine Cunningham [98]
*****
Tzigone crept through the streets toward the Belajoon mansion, intent upon retrieving something that had belonged to Sinestra. Basel was free today, but that was no guarantee against tomorrow.
One thing puzzled her-why hadn't Sinestra's death been investigated?
Usually magehounds were called at once. Once the murderer was revealed, the remains were promptly cremated and the ashes scattered so that no further inquiry could be made. By law and custom, the secrets of Halruaan wizards died with them.
The ancient, sprawling mansion was amazingly easy to enter. All the lights were dimmed in mourning, and the windows were open. This spoke volumes about old lord Belajoon. Halruaan custom was to close all windows-an old superstition, based on the idea that open windows beckoned the spirits of the departed and tempted them into lingering. Apparently Belajoon wanted to hold onto his wife as long as he could!
Magic wards protected the windows and skittered across Tzigone's skin like delicate insects as she climbed over the sill. She slipped through the quiet house toward a room ablaze with candles. Sinestra's room had been left untouched, almost like a shrine.
Shaking her head at the old man's fond foolishness, Tzigone set to work.
She found a small silver brush with a broken handle, tossed negligently into a drawer. This was important-whatever Tzigone presented for testing had to appear to be discarded. No magehound could legally test a stolen object.
As she picked up the brush, a bit of folded paper caught her eyes, something tossed into the drawer and forgotten. She lifted one edge of the packet and recognized the oddly colored powder Sinestra had taken from Procopio's tower.
"Don't touch that," advised a male voice behind her.
Tzigone leaped and whirled, coming face to face with Matteo's friend Andris.
He caught the packet she'd inadvertently tossed into the air and leaned away from the small puff of dust that escaped it. "You really shouldn't take this. If Lord Belajoon realizes the loss, they'll look for the thief."
"He probably doesn't know she had it. She didn't know what it was,"
Tzigone explained, feeling rather dazed and stupid. It had been a very long time since someone had crept up on her! "For that matter, I don't know what it is."
Andris folded back the paper and showed her the powder. "This particular shade is known to artists as 'mummy brown.' Once it was precisely that-a pigment made from the ground remains of mummies. It has not been used for years, of course, but was fairly common during a period when northerners were given to exploring and despoiling the Old Empires."
Tzigone lifted one eyebrow. "I can see why you and Matteo get along.
Why did you follow me?"
"Actually, I didn't." He cleared his throat. "I came to help Lord Basel, on Matteo's behalf."
"Now I know you're lying. Matteo wouldn't have sent you here."
Andris's ice-green eyes narrowed. "Did he send you here?"
"Good point," Tzigone admitted. After a moment, she added, "Did you find anything?"
Andris moved over to the wall and tapped lightly on a carved panel. It slid aside silently to reveal a hidden passage. He shrugged aside Tzigone's incredulous stare. "The original designs for nearly every mansion of note are in the jordaini libraries."
She whistled softly. "If you're ever in need of a partner, I might be available."
They made their way down a series of hidden stairs and halls. Finally Andris led her into a deep-buried chamber. The room was round and empty but for a long, glass box resting on a marble table. Uriah Belajoon had entombed Sinestra under glass.
Tzigone edged closer. Her friend had changed from a raven-haired beauty into the woman Tzigone had once glimpsed in a magic-dispelling mirror.
"She does look a bit like my mother," she mused.
"Keturah," Andris remembered. "Kiva spoke of her in the Swamp of Akhlaur."
Tzigone nodded, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She placed one hand