Enchanter's End Game

the floor were two large tankards of lukewarm ale. Wordlessly, Sadi and Issus changed clothes. From beneath the soiled pillow, Issus pulled a pair of wigs and two sets of false whiskers.
    "How can they drink this?" Sadi demanded, sniffing at one of the tankards and wrinkling his nose.
    Issus shrugged. "Alorns have peculiar tastes. You don't have to drink it all, Sadi. Splash most of it on your clothes. Drasnian sailors spill a lot of ale when they're out in search of amusement. How do I look?"
    Sadi gave him a quick glance. "Ridiculous," he replied. "Hair and a beard don't really suit you, Issus."
    Issus laughed. "And they look particularly out of place on you. " He shrugged and carefully poured ale down the front of his tar-spattered tunic. "I suppose we look enough like Drasnians to get by, and we certainly smell like Drasnians. Hook your beard on a little tighter, and let's get moving before it stops raining."
    "Are we going out the back?"
    Issus shook his head. "If we're being followed, the back will be watched. We'll leave the way ordinary Drasnian sailors leave."
    "And how is that?"
    "I've made arrangements to have us thrown out."
    Sadi had never been thrown out of any place before, and he found the experience not particularly amusing. The two burly ruffians who unceremoniously pitched him into the street were a bit rough about it, and Sadi picked up several scrapes and abrasions in the process.
    Issus staggered to his feet and stood bawling curses at the closed door, then lurched over and pulled Sadi up out of the mud. Together they reeled in apparent drunkenness down the street toward the Drasnian enclave. Sadi noted that there had been two men in a doorway across the street when he and Issus had been ejected and that the two did not move to follow.
    Once they entered the Drasnian enclave, Issus led the way rather quickly to the house of Droblek, the Drasnian port authority. They were admitted immediately and conveyed at once to a dimly lighted but comfortable room where the enormously fat Droblek sat sweating. With him was Count Melgon, the aristocratic ambassador from Tolnedra.
    "Novel attire for the chief eunuch of Salmissra's household," Count Melgon observed as Sadi pulled off his wig and false beard.
    "Just a bit of deception, my Lord Ambassador," Sadi replied. "I didn't particularly want this meeting to become general knowledge."
    "Can he be trusted?" Droblek asked bluntly, pointing at Issus.
    Sadi's expression became whimsical. "Can you be trusted, Issus?" he asked.
    "You've paid me for up to the end of the month." Issus shrugged. "After that, we'll see. I might get a better offer."
    "You see?" Sadi said to the two seated men. "Issus can be trusted until the end of the month - at least as much as anybody in Sthiss Tor can be trusted. One thing I've noticed about Issus - he's a simple, uncomplicated man. Once you buy him, he stays bought. I think it's referred to as professional ethics."
    Droblek grunted sourly. "Do you suppose we could get to the point? Why did you go to so much trouble to arrange this meeting? Why didn't you just summon us to the palace?"
    "My dear Droblek," Sadi murmured, "you know the kind of intrigue that infests the palace. I'd prefer that what passes between us remain more or less confidential. The matter itself is rather uncomplicated. I've been approached by the emissary of Taur Urgas."
    The two regarded him with no show of surprise.
    "I gather that you already knew."
    "We're hardly children, Sadi," Count Melgon told him.
    "I am at present in negotiations with the new ambassador from Rak Goska," Sadi mentioned.
    "Isn't that the third one so far this summer?" Melgon asked.
    Sadi nodded. "The Murgos seem to be particularly susceptible to certain fevers which abound in the swamps."
    "We've noticed that," Droblek said dryly. "What is your prognosis for the present emissary's continued good health?"
    "I don't imagine he's any more immune than his countrymen. He's already beginning to feel unwell."
    "Maybe he'll be lucky and recover," Droblek suggested.
    "Not very likely," Issus said with an ugly laugh.
    "The tendency of Murgo ambassadors to die unexpectedly has succeeded in keeping the negotiations moving very slowly," Sadi continued. "I'd like for you gentlemen to inform King Rhodar and Ran Borune that these delays will probably continue."
    "Why?" Droblek asked.
    "I want them to understand and appreciate my efforts in their present campaign against the Angarak