Swords: 06 - The Third Book of Lost Swords - Stonecutter's Story by Fred Saberhagen
Authors: Fred Saberhagen
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Komi, there appeared in the doorway, just at the top of the stairs, the visage of a scowling beggar.
Kasimir immediately reached for his dagger, and was about to bawl an oath downstairs at Komi for having allowed this stranger to get past him when the beggar called out a greeting in the voice of Wen Chang.
Kasimir’s hand holding the dagger fell to his side. “You! But—is this magic?”
“Only a touch of magic, perhaps, here and there.” The figure of the beggar doffed its ragged outer coat.
“Why such a marvelous disguise?”
“It is sometimes necessary to gather information on the streets,” the Magistrate said, his voice a little muffled in the process of pulling off the shaggy gray facial hair that had concealed his own neat mustache along with most of his lower face.
“I never would have known you!”
“I trust not.” With another muffled grunt the older man now tugged off a sticky something that had altered the shape of his nose and cheekbones, and tossed this flesh-colored object on the table along with his wig and beard. Now undeniably Wen Chang again, he straightened his back and stretched.
“Now,” the Magistrate continued in a clear tone of satisfaction, “we must exchange information. My day has been a long and trying one. The beggars’ spaces at the Great Gate are considered most desirable, but they are too jealously guarded and fought over for an outsider like myself to have any chance of forcing his way in. The same situation obtained in Swordsmiths’ Lane, and again behind the Courts of Justice, where there was much rumor mongering over the matter of the execution two days hence. But as it turned out, all those difficulties were undoubtedly for the best. When I finally found a place to put down my begging bowl, in the vicinity of the Blue Temple, I learned something that may prove useful to us indeed.”
Kasimir could readily understand why there was no surplus of beggars near the Blue Temple, whose priests and worshippers alike were notoriously stingy. He asked: “And what was this most useful thing you learned?”
“Have you ever heard of the famous diamond, the Great Orb of Maecenas?”
“I admit that I have not.”
“If you, Kasimir, were a lapidarist, or a jewel thief, or a priest in the Blue Temple, you would certainly give a different answer to that question. Know, then, that such a diamond exists, that it has recently been brought to the Blue Temple of Eylau in secret, and that it is there to be carved into several smaller stones in the hope of thereby increasing its total value. This is obviously a matter of concern to us, for it is certain that the Sword can be used in the precise cutting of small stones as well as great. But before we discuss that any further, tell me of your day. What did you discover at the Red Temple?”
As Kasimir began his tale with his arrival at the Red Temple in the morning, the feet of servants were heard on the stairs. Soon they entered once more bearing a tub and buckets of hot water. The physician delayed his story until the tub had been set up behind a screen and the servants had departed.
Faint splashing sounds issued from behind the screen as Kasimir detailed his adventures in the vicinity of the Red Temple, and Wen Chang listened. The young man’s story of recruiting the girl model to act as a paid spy elicited only a momentary cessation of splashing.
Not until Kasimir described his leaving the temple area to return to the inn did Wen Chang comment aloud. “And you did not persist in your attempt to obtain employment there yourself?”
“No sir, I thought I had explained that. What I had managed to achieve at the temple seemed to me at least enough to deserve reporting—and of course when I reached the inn your note was waiting for
Kasimir immediately reached for his dagger, and was about to bawl an oath downstairs at Komi for having allowed this stranger to get past him when the beggar called out a greeting in the voice of Wen Chang.
Kasimir’s hand holding the dagger fell to his side. “You! But—is this magic?”
“Only a touch of magic, perhaps, here and there.” The figure of the beggar doffed its ragged outer coat.
“Why such a marvelous disguise?”
“It is sometimes necessary to gather information on the streets,” the Magistrate said, his voice a little muffled in the process of pulling off the shaggy gray facial hair that had concealed his own neat mustache along with most of his lower face.
“I never would have known you!”
“I trust not.” With another muffled grunt the older man now tugged off a sticky something that had altered the shape of his nose and cheekbones, and tossed this flesh-colored object on the table along with his wig and beard. Now undeniably Wen Chang again, he straightened his back and stretched.
“Now,” the Magistrate continued in a clear tone of satisfaction, “we must exchange information. My day has been a long and trying one. The beggars’ spaces at the Great Gate are considered most desirable, but they are too jealously guarded and fought over for an outsider like myself to have any chance of forcing his way in. The same situation obtained in Swordsmiths’ Lane, and again behind the Courts of Justice, where there was much rumor mongering over the matter of the execution two days hence. But as it turned out, all those difficulties were undoubtedly for the best. When I finally found a place to put down my begging bowl, in the vicinity of the Blue Temple, I learned something that may prove useful to us indeed.”
Kasimir could readily understand why there was no surplus of beggars near the Blue Temple, whose priests and worshippers alike were notoriously stingy. He asked: “And what was this most useful thing you learned?”
“Have you ever heard of the famous diamond, the Great Orb of Maecenas?”
“I admit that I have not.”
“If you, Kasimir, were a lapidarist, or a jewel thief, or a priest in the Blue Temple, you would certainly give a different answer to that question. Know, then, that such a diamond exists, that it has recently been brought to the Blue Temple of Eylau in secret, and that it is there to be carved into several smaller stones in the hope of thereby increasing its total value. This is obviously a matter of concern to us, for it is certain that the Sword can be used in the precise cutting of small stones as well as great. But before we discuss that any further, tell me of your day. What did you discover at the Red Temple?”
As Kasimir began his tale with his arrival at the Red Temple in the morning, the feet of servants were heard on the stairs. Soon they entered once more bearing a tub and buckets of hot water. The physician delayed his story until the tub had been set up behind a screen and the servants had departed.
Faint splashing sounds issued from behind the screen as Kasimir detailed his adventures in the vicinity of the Red Temple, and Wen Chang listened. The young man’s story of recruiting the girl model to act as a paid spy elicited only a momentary cessation of splashing.
Not until Kasimir described his leaving the temple area to return to the inn did Wen Chang comment aloud. “And you did not persist in your attempt to obtain employment there yourself?”
“No sir, I thought I had explained that. What I had managed to achieve at the temple seemed to me at least enough to deserve reporting—and of course when I reached the inn your note was waiting for
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