He glanced at the guard captain, wholooked to the old wizard to make sure that he was dismissed. Dyrr sent him along with a small wave of his hand, then the old wizard made another gesture and spoke an arcane word, encapsulating the chamber in a sphere of crawling blackness that hissed and moaned softly like a thing alive.
"I hope you'll forgive me, young one, if I take steps to ensure that our conversation remains private," the ancient drow wheezed. "Eavesdropping seems to be a way of life among our kind."
He shuffled to an ornately carved chair and lowered himself into the seat, seemingly careless of the fact that he bared the nape of his wattled neck to Nimor in so doing.
"A sensible precaution," Nimor said.
The old one reckons me no threat, the assassin noted. Either he is very trusting - unlikely - or very confident. If he has such confidence inisolating himself with me, then either he does not have the measure of my strength, or I do not have the measure of his.
"Itis confidence, young one," the old wizard said, "and you do not have the measure of me, for we are both of us more than we appear." Dyrr laughed again, a wet and rasping sound. "Yes, your thoughts are known to me. I did not reach my advanced age through carelessness. Now, take a seat. We will dispense with this foolishness and discuss our business."
Nimor spread his hands in a gesture of acquiescence and took the chair opposite the old wizard. With some care he organized his thoughts, locking away his darker secrets in a place he would not examine while Dyrr sat by reading his thoughts. Instead he concentrated solely on the matter at hand.
"You have no doubt heard of the unfortunate demise of the Matron Mother of House Faen Tlabbar?" the assassin said. "And her daughter Sil'zet, as well?"
"It did not escape my notice. Count on the Tlabbars to go crying murder to the ruling council. What possible action did they hope to exhort from the other matron mothers, I wonder?"
"Perhaps they were overcome with grief," Nimor replied.
He reached slowly into a pouch at his side, allowing the wizard to note the deliberate nature of his motion. From the pouch he withdrew a plat-inum brooch, worked in the barred double-curve symbol of Faen Tlabbar and crowned by a dark ruby. Nimor placed it on the table.
"The matron mother's own House brooch, which I managed to pocket as a keepsake for you. I hope your scrying shield is good, Lord Dyrr. No doubt the Tlabbar wizards will be seeking that emblem with all the magic at their disposal."
"Half-witted children fumbling in thedark," Dyrr muttered. "Five hundred years ago I'd forgotten more about the Art than that whole house full of wizards had collectively deciphered in all their years of training."
He reached out one near-skeletal hand for the brooch and weighed it in his hand.
"I am sure you have a means to confirm the authenticity of the brooch," said Nimor.
"Oh, I believe you, assassin. I do not think you have cheated me, but I will examine the issue later, just to be certain."
The wizard left the brooch sitting on the table and leaned back into his chair. Nimor waited patiently while Dyrr settled back, tapping one long, thin finger on his staff, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Well," the old wizard said finally, "in our previous meeting I required that you demonstrate to me the reach and skill of your brotherhood by re-moving an enemy of my House, and I suppose that you have done exactly that. You have won my ear. So what is it that the Jaezred Chaulssin want of House Agrach Dyrr?"
Nimor shifted and shot a sharp glance at the wizard. Dyrr was very well informed indeed, to know of that name. Very few outside of Chaulssin did. In fact, Nimor had studiously avoided bringing it up when he had first ap-proached the ancient lord. He wondered what clues he had left for the wizard to decipher, and whether Dyrr could be permitted that knowledge.
"Do not be hasty, boy," Dyrr cautioned him. "You gave away nothing that I did not already know. I have been aware of the House of Shadows for quite a long time."
"I am impressed," Nimor said.
"On the contrary, you believe that I am making empty boasts." Dyrr pointed at his own templeand smiled coldly. "I am not given to bluffing or making wild guesses. Long ago