"You may now continue on your travels into the Empire," Sin Wai said. He motioned, and the clerk stepped forward to present the bronze fish to the ambassador, who took the fish with a placid face, with not a hint of what he was feeling.
"And the thief?" he asked. Slowly Sin Wai raised a hand to point a finger at Chin Ma.
"That is the thief," he said.
"No!" Chin Ma said suddenly. "No!" He drew a dagger from within his robes and lunged at Sin Wai.
Lin Mei had never seen her brother move so fast. With a blur he stepped forward while drawing his sword and slashing down, severing Chin Ma's arm. At the same moment two arrows sped by him, one entering Chin Ma's neck and the other piercing an eye and lodging deep in the skull. Lin Mei looked back, and saw both Ro Min and Kin Shin had arrows already nocked and ready for a second shot, should one be needed.
In an instant swords were drawn by all who had them, Lin Mei among them. She feared there would be a battle. But Sin Wai and the Ambassador both stepped forward, arms raised.
"Cease!" Sin Wai yelled. "Cease! There will be no more blood. This is Imperial business." Slowly swords were lowered.
"I thank you for your efforts," the Tifun ambassador said. "I am pleased at this demonstration of the righteousness of Imperial Justice," he added solemnly.
"We are pleased also," Sin Wai said. "I wish you a safe and pleasant journey." With that he turned and walked away, his entourage following, leaving Chin Ma—and his ambitions—dead.
Scam Artistry
by Mercedes Lackey & Elisabeth Waters
The most useful friend an editor can have is a writer who, when you call and say "I need something funny, less than 1000 words long, with a strong female character," will produce exactly what you need by the end of the week. This is not, of course, the only—or the most important—reason I value my friendship with Misty, but it certainly doesn't hurt.
Mercedes Lackey made her first sale to Sword & Sorceress 3 and 4 (she gave Marion Zimmer Bradley two stories that were so good that Marion couldn't bear to part with either of them). She has sold so many stories and novels since then that I can't keep track of them all. At the moment, I think she has at least five different series going at once—and that's just the novels. Her latest book in the Godmother series, The Snow Queen, came out in May of this year, the new Valdemar novel, Foundation, in October, and she's edited a new Valdemar anthology, Moving Targets And Other Tales Of Valdemar, which is due out in December. She's so busy, in fact, that we've been trying to collaborate on a sequel to "Dragon in Distress" (S&S 12, ebook available at Fictionwise.com) for two years now and haven't finished it. To get "Scam Artistry" I had to beg, plead, and write the first draft. I'm really impressed with what she did with it, and I hope that you will be as well. There's just one thing bothering me now: the raven I keep seeing outside my window.
#
Quoth perched on a cornice above the street and waited for Agatha to catch up with him. She was punctual; he was just early. Having wings helped in getting around the city, especially when there was a Marathon in progress.
Quoth was a familiar; his job was to train young witches. He'd first taken this form about 1910, when, after centuries of being a cat, he'd had enough and decided to go with something with wings. Unfortunately his first young witch had had a penchant for Poe and puns, and had immediately labeled him with the name of "Quoth." Quoth, the raven, could only reflect that at least he hadn't been plastered with the moniker of "Nevermore."
He seemed to attract or be attracted to the odd ones. Not that most witches were anything other than odd but... he got the oddest of an odd lot. Take Agatha. Most witches discovered their powers in their teens. Not Agatha. Menopause kicked her witchy ways into high gear. And having been a Flower Child in the 60s who had never quite gotten over it... well he was afraid he was going to end up constantly saving her from herself.
Like now. Here came trouble. On an intersection course with Agatha who was jingling her way up the street, patchwork skirt, India blouse, backpack, long braids, love beads and all.
"Can you help me?" the burly man dressed in jeans and a plaid flannel shirt asked. "My truck got towed, and I need bus fare to get back to the office. I'm the construction supervisor—I'm working on a job over there—" he gestured to a building in the next block. "If you give me money for bus fare, I'll meet you back here on Monday and pay you a hundred dollars."
There was certainly a good deal of construction going on in the neighborhood, but most of it was not taking place on Sunday afternoon, and the building he indicated did not show any visible signs of work. Nevertheless, to Quoth's dismay, Agatha dug into her pocket and produced a ten-dollar bill.
"You don't have to pay me back," she said smiling. "You know that sharing is caring, right? And you care about your fellow man and know you need to help?"
The man nodded. From here Quoth could tell he was repressing a smug smile, probably thinking the dippy hippy had done way too many drugs 40 years ago.
Agatha grinned. "Then when you encounter someone in need, give them what you have."
"You sweet child!" the man took the money and gave her a big hug. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome," she said. "Good luck." She smiled again, turned, and continued on her way.
'Sweet child?' A pigeon swooped down to land on the sidewalk in front of her. The face of a pigeon is not well-equipped to express incredulity, but it did its best.
The woman laughed softly and turned into a nearby alley. The pigeon flew after her, landed on her shoulder, and changed to Quoth. 'If he only knew!'
"So I'm older than I look."
'Only by a few decades,' her familiar retorted. 'And might I question the adjective sweet as well?'
"He's running a scam," the mage pointed out. "He's not limiting himself to truth."
Quoth did a little hop of surprise. 'If you know it's a scam, why did you give him money?'
"Did you miss the geas? 'Then when you encounter someone in need, give them what you have.' He took the money after I said that, which means he consented to the terms." She grinned. "He doesn't know it yet, but he just became a generous friend to the poor and needy."
Quoth snapped his beak in shock. "You're not as—"
"—dumb as you thought?" Agatha chuckled. "Welcome to the club. The first thing I did when the Power knocked me over was read everything I could get my hands on about it. You're not dealing with just anyone here, bird. I am a librarian."
Quoth gulped. In the world of magic, words were power, and in the world of words, the people who held all the keys—
"Now, shall we get on our way? You were going to show me the little shop where I could get supplies. They'd better not overcharge me. I've been comparison shopping on the net."
"Oh. Right." Quoth flapped heavily into the air.
This was going to be... interesting.
Kindle books in the Sword & Sorceress series
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 22
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 23
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 24
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 25
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 26
http://www.elisabethwaters.com
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Copyright
Copyright © 2008 The Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust
Cover Design copyright © 2008 by Vera Nazarian
Cover Painting: An Oriental Beauty by Luis Ricardo Falero (1851-96).
Introduction copyright © 2008 by Elisabeth Waters
A Morsel for the Plague Queen copyright © 2008 by Dave Smeds
Daughter of Heaven copyright © 2008 by Michael Spence & Elisabeth Waters
The Vessel copyright © 2008 by Gerri Leen
Polish on, Polish off: A Dragon Tale copyright © 2008 by Tom Inister
It's All in the Making copyright © 2008 by Patricia B. Cirone
Daughters of
Brightshield copyright © 2008 by Pauline J. Alama
Undivided copyright © 2008 by Marian Allen
The Fairest of Them All copyright © 2008 by Melissa Mead
Deermouse copyright © 2008 by K.D. Wentworth
Blood Moon copyright © 2008 by Catherine Mintz
Stolen Ghosts copyright © 2008 by Jonathan Moeller
The Frog's Princess copyright © 2008 by Kristin Noone
Shalott's Inn copyright © 2008 by Leah Cypess
Wolf Maiden copyright © 2008 by Linda L. Donahue
Black Magic copyright © 2008 by Resa Nelson
Remembering copyright © 2008 by Deborah J. Ross
Squirrel Errant copyright © 2008 by Michael H. Payne
Hope for the Dawn copyright © 2008 by Catherine Soto
Scam Artistry copyright © 2008 by Mercedes Lackey & Elisabeth Waters
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights.
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXIII Page 29
