The Book of Taltos Read Online Free PDF

feral.
    Eventually he set his glass down and said, “Well, Jhereg” (apparently deciding the term was more insulting than “Easterner”), “do you know why you are here?”
    I licked my lips. “I thought I did. I may have been deceived, of course.”
    “It is likely,” said Morrolan.
    “That being the case,” I said, falling into his speech patterns, “perhaps you would be so kind as to enlighten me.”
    “I intend to,” he said. He studied me some more, and I began to get the impression that he was doing that just to irritate me, or perhaps to test me—which works out to the same thing.
    If you’re a Jhereg and an Easterner, you have to expect to be insulted from time to time. If you want to live, you have to learn not to take offense at every slur and sneer. But this was beginning to get annoying. I said, “It seems to me, most noble Dragon, that you were about to tell me something.”
    A corner of his mouth twitched. “Yes.” Then, “A certain employee of yours was traced to Dzur Mountain. You have learned that, some time ago, he paid me a visit as part of negotiating a small land transaction. You are anxious as to his whereabouts. It seems he has run off with the family silver, as the saying goes.”
    “It turns out,” I said, “that I knew that much already.”
    “Quite. Now, however, you wish to find him to kill him. You can find no one willing to travel to Dzur Mountain, so you thought to visit me, perhaps to learn what I know of the truth behind the legends of Sethra Lavode.”
    I was beginning to get downright irritated, as well as frightened, by how close his guesses were. I mean, what a pompous, supercilious jongleur. But the thought came to me that he was a pompous, supercilious jongleur with a very powerful Morganti blade, and he was a sorcerer, and I was in his keep. I resolved to stay polite. I said, “It is certainly the case that I am curious about Dzur Mountain, and I would appreciate any information you can give me on it, and its inhabitants.”
    Morrolan, by this time, was giving me a look that couldn’t decide if it was a mild sneer or an attempted scowl. He said, “Very well, Jhereg, a question: Would you like to find this straying employee of yours?”
    I spent a moment trying to find verbal traps in the question, then gave up and said, “Yes.”
    He said, “Very well. Let us go to him.”
    He stood up. I did the same. He took a step closer to me and seemed to concentrate for just a moment. I realized what he was doing almost at once. I thought about resisting, but made a split-second decision; I might never have another chance. You have to take some risks in any business. I allowed the teleport to take effect. My stomach lurched and the walls vanished around me.

3
     
    The knife went near my right hand, various herbs and things went near my left hand. I didn’t yet know precisely which of my supplies I’d pulled out, nor did I want to, but I noted the string with nine knots, the ash twig shaped like a bull’s head, the miniature copper kettle, the toe bone of an elk, the piece of braided leather, and a few other things.
    I wondered what I’d do with them.

    M ORROLAN SAID , “W ELCOME TO Dzur Mountain.”
    My stomach said,
Why do you keep doing this to me?
    My knees felt weak and I braced myself against a damp stone wall. We were on a small landing, surrounded by stone, with a single, narrow stairway leading up. High above me, diffuse light trickled in through a tiny window. There was a torch burning on the wall along the stairway, and the soot on the wall above it was old. This place, then, was not used often, but had been prepared.
    I hid my discomfort as best I could and said, “Charmed.” I did not want to throw up. I repeated this to myself a few times.
    Morrolan set his foot on the lowest stair. “This way,” he said. To gain time, I said, “Sethra Lavode?”
    “She awaits us.”
    “Oh,” I said. I took a couple of deep breaths and began following Morrolan