The Infiltration of Calpe Hits Even More Snags
At about four in the morning, Martialis sees Ruth trying to meet up with Can and Arben. She only finds Protextus hiding in their room. She scuttles off. Martialis follows her back to her base, then flies over to the stables of the guild.
At around dawn, Patricius wakes up and wanders out of his cell. Arben says hello, and Patricius notices the "relics" he was carrying. They rap briefly about Saint Simon, and The Three Mira Sisters are disturbed by the lack of focus on Saint Nicholas. Patricius just shakes his head woefully. Just then, Artaky, Theophilactus and Narcis enter the room. They tell Patricias drinks are on the house and he's out of there. They ask the boys a few questions, then pass them their stuff. Narcis asks if they could ever be turned against Norwit and they say, of course not. That's just what Narcis didn't want to hear. They start attacking the sisters. Unfortunately, only two of them are there, the eldest, Arabia is hiding in the shadows somewhere. She spies Llyuanis concentrating on an illusion and stabs him in the back. Simultaneously, "Narcis" disappears. Arben locks himself back in his cell, but has his bow drawn. Can whips out a Flame Arrow, but misses the sister hitting Artaky right square in the chest. Arben takes the opportunity to switch sides. "Duck, Macedonia!" he says. Artaky sinks into the floor and Theophilactus looks very distressed. Arben shoots him in the face. Arabia drags a passed out Llyuanis into the room. Theophilactus gives up. They tie them up and throw them in a cell. The three sisters head to Narcis's room.
Narcis was entertaining a lady when Artaky came into the room through a wall. He was very surprised. He goes to question Arben and Can. Arben, overwhelmed by his lack of sleep and proximity to death, is unable to keep his lies straight. He says he killed Mario the Italian, Big Johanes is in Constantinople. He admits that in retrospect, the order to murder Mario probably came from an illusion. He claims the sisters wanted him to go in on killing Narcis and he refused. The sisters balk at this. Narcis takes everyone outside so he can figure out what to do. He drags Llyuanis and Theophilactus with him.
Outside, the Sisters suggest that Narcis track down Patricius, who saw the whole thing. Artaky phases out of there. Narcis has had enough of this; he wants all the thieves together in the courtyard, now. Narcis orders the sisters to kill the assassins. Once the sisters leave, Martialis comes down, hoping that Narcis has not yet made his save against the Charm spell cast on him. It has. Marty tells him that the assassins were sent by Norwit to figure out who in the guild was loyal. He probably shouldn't kill them. That makes sense to Narcis and he heads down stairs. Martialis changes into a rat and skuttles off. Luckily, Narcis stops the Mira Sisters before they can murder our heroes. He questions them some more, Arben gives some vague answers. Narcis tells them they have fifteen minutes to get out of town. If Norwit wants to pay them for Eorl's assassination, he'll track them down. They grab their stuff. "What about my books?" says Arben.
"Get out."
They head back out through the stable exit. Can leaves in a huff, blaming Arben for all their troubles. Arben asks him to meet him outside of town later. Once Can leaves, Arben looks around and notices that the only people around are the bound Llyuanis and Theophilactus. "I told you to play it straight with me," Arben says before slitting the illusionist's throat. He then steals a horse and rides out of town. Soon the theives assemble in the courtyard. Marty takes a survey of the attendants. There's the Mira Sisters, Protextus, Margareta, two half elves, one elf, a fourteen year old, Simakus, Patricius and five humans. Also, a pidgeon comes down from the sky. Narcis examines it, then hands it to Arabia. He informs them that there has been an attempted coup, but it has been put down. Narcis questions the guild as to who has had contact with John and Man, who knows what Artaky is, stuff like that. The gnomes can't get there stories straight, each one claiming the other was in on it. Narcis declares a fatwa on Artaky, and any thieves guild member that sees him should murder him.
