Steven Burst - Tiassa

For Reesa, with love

C ONTENTS

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to Reesa Brown and Neil Gaiman for launching this one, and to Anne Gray for handling so many irritating details so I could work on it. Robert Sloan created much of the background of what became Dragaera, for which I am, as always, grateful. Thank you to Bethani at Twin Peaks, Round Rock, for keeping me supplied with coffee while I worked on this one. I very much appreciate the lessons in tournament poker from Adam Hatfield13 Stemple and Chris Pokerfox Wallace.

Finally, in working on this one, there were three websites that were especially helpful: The Dragaera Timeline by Alexx Kay: www.panix.com/~alexx/dragtime.html; Mark Mandels Crack and Shards page: www.speakeasy.org/~mamandel/Cracks-and-Shards/; and the Dragaera Wiki: dragaera.wikia.com/wiki/Special:MyHome.

My sincere thanks to everyone involved in maintaining those sites.

Prologue

Sethra greeted me with the words, Theres someone Id like you to meet, Vlad. I had expected something more like, What are you doing here? as Id shown up at Dzur Mountain without any advance warning. But then, if Sethra Lavode had been accustomed to doing the expected, she wouldnt have been Sethra Lavode.

I had been visiting my friend Morrolan, who had been kind enough to teleport me to Dzur Mountain, and after a long climb up a wide and tiring staircase I had found her in a library, reading a book that looked like it must have weighed ten pounds.

My familiar noticed it as well. Its not a book, Boss. Its a weapon. It lands on you, and thats it.

I think youre right.

I was torn between curiosity about this person she wanted me to meet, and the business that had brought me. She asked if I wanted wine, and I did, and her servant, a strange, twitchy old guy named Tukko, thumped a bottle and a glass down in front of a chair. I sat and drank and said, Who?

An Easterner.

From?

Far from here.

All the Eastern kingdoms are

Very far. He doesnt speak any language youve ever heard before.

But you have?

I hadnt either, but I learned.

How?

The Necromancer taught me. Once youve learned a few languages, the others come easy. Im working on teaching him ours, but its slow going.

Howd you meet him?

The Necromancer introduced us.

Well. Now Im intrigued.

You were intrigued when I didnt ask what brought you here.

All right, now Im more intrigued.

What did bring you here?

Now that Im out of the army, I thought we could swap war stories.

She smiled and waited.

Okay, I said. Its this. I opened my pouch, found the object, and held it out for her to inspect.

My, she said. Where did you get it?

Thats a long story. What is it?

Im not sure. Its interesting, certainly.

Who goes first?

Up to you.

This guy you want me to meetwhats the deal? He have a job for me?

Sort of. Not your usual kind.

By my usual kind, I assume you refer to my perfectly legitimate herb shop?

Yes. Not that.

What then?

He wants you to talk.

About what?

Everything. Everything you do, legal and illegal.

I studied her. She looked serious. Sethra, if I ever did something illegalwhich of course I never havewhy would I be so stupid as to talk about it?

Reason one: There is a lot of money in it. Reason two: There may, from time to time, be other things in it for youuseful trinkets. Reason three: Because I tell you, on my honor, that nothing you say will ever be heard by anyone who can do anything to you.

How much money?

Five hundred imperials worth of unminted gold for a few hours of conversation, with the option of doing it again if it works out for all concerned, and maybe several times.

Five hundred.

Yes.

Thats a lot. Why me?

He wanted me, but I wont. I suggested you instead, because you can give him what he wants.

What does he want?

To understand what life is like here.

At Dzur Mountain?

In the Empire.

And I can tell him that?

I believe you can, yes.

No one will hear it? On your honor?

Yes.

Okay, Ill meet him, and Ill think about it.

She nodded. Good. She held her hand out for it, and I gave her the object. She held it up and studied it carefully. It was a really remarkable thingabout the size of my palm, all of silver, except for the eyes, which appeared to be very tiny sapphires. The wings were thin, and filled with a multitude of tiny holes so the light shone through, and there were whiskers around the mouth. After a moment she pulled her eyes from it and looked back at me. How did you say it came to you?

I happened to come across a recently deceased individual, and it was in a pouch at his belt.

She smiled. No you didnt.

Why Sethra, whatever do you mean?

The idea of you going through the pockets of a random corpse you stumbled over is absurd. Youre trying to make me think it was someone you killed. But a Jhereg assassin never robs his victim. Its unprofessional.

Now, how would you know that?

Vlad, I have been around a long, long time. So, tell me the truth. Where did you find the tiassa?

Is it important?

Yes.

Why?

For reasons full of mystical significance. Now tell.

Id rather hear about the mystical significance.

Im sure you would.

All right. You know the old market just above Northpier?

Very well.

Thats where I found it.

Just lying there?

Not exactly.

Well?

Now, about that mystical significance.

Vlad, I was kidding about that.

No you werent. You had that look you have when youre telling the truth in a way you hope wont be believed.

That stopped her. Im impressed.

Thank you. Now, what exactly did you mean?

Tell me exactly how you found it.

It came to me in a dream.

How very tangible it is.

Okay, it was delivered by someone I only knew from a dream.

She tilted her head and said, I think it might be straight answer time, dont you? I opened my mouth, and she said, Vlad, you know very well you never win these.

That stopped me. Youre right.

Im listening.

I started talking.

THE
SILVER
TIASSA

The first time I saw the tiassa was nine Real Years before I was born. Mafenyi was holding it, and it was so pretty! When I saw it again, two hundred Real Years earlier, I had to take it so I did.

I didnt think Mafenyi would mind too much. She hadnt made it to keep. She told me that she made it because she had to, but it shouldnt ever stay with anyone for too long. She used silver that came all the way from Aelma, which is a city on the Chareq River near some mountains called Daeld, which is where the silver was found in the ground.

Mafenyi said she melted the silver in a cauldron made of light, and she cut off her hand and put it in the cauldron, and plucked out one of her eyes and put that in, too, and then shaped it while it was still hotter than hot. She worked on it for years and years, so the ears would be so perfect, and you could see candlelight through the wings; she put tiny sapphires in for the eyes. I asked her how come she still had both hands and both eyes, and she said she was a Goddess and so she grew them back. She said I could be a Goddess if I wanted to be, and I said my grandmother was a Goddess and it didnt seem like much fun.

When we were done talking I went away, but then I came back. I wanted to just look at it some more, but she was sleeping, and thats when I knew I had to have it, so I took it from her shelf.