The tub side timer went off. Laquatus shifted back to his legged form and signaled for his servants. Two sallow-faced humans in dreary peasant clothing stepped forward and helped him from the tub. One cooled him down with a huge, damp, purple towel, and the other draped a robe around the ambassador's shoulders.

"Be gone," Laquatus said, and the humans shuffled out.

Turg, the ambassador's bodyguard and champion, snored loudly on the floor of the next room. The huge amphibian had won four straight matches in the pits that afternoon and then gorged itself at the post- games banquet. Between the mountain of food their Cabal hosts provided and the odd body part or two from his opponents, Turg's appetite was for once completely sated. Laquatus reached out with his mind, confirming that Turg was merely asleep and not comatose, and then let the sleeping giant lie. The slightest unfamiliar sound or smell, the merest whisper of thought from Laquatus, and Turg would be as awake and as dangerous as ever. Laquatus had spent years building and strengthening the master/thrall relationship with Turg, and though the great frog still retained far too much of its own primitive drives, it was unquestionably loyal and nearly perfect in its obedience. Laquatus heard an unfamiliar tone and a strange voice calling his name from elsewhere in the room. In a flash, Turg responded to Laquatus's confusion and rolled onto his huge webbed feet, grumbling angrily. Laquatus waved his familiar away and bid him stand ready. He then went looking for the source of the sound.

In a trunk bearing his formal attire, he found the imperial mirror Empress Llawan had given him. It played a lyrical fanfare to announce the rank and station of whoever was using it. For Llawan, it played the imperial theme. For Laquatus, it used a piece he himself had written. For this mysterious new person, it played a fairly unimpressive flute aria.

"… for Ambassador Laquatus. This is Rillu Veza, Director of the Breaker Bay depot for Ambassador Laquatus. Are you there, Ambassador?"

"This is Laquatus," the ambassador spoke from several feet back, the mirror still hidden inside the trunk. It was a woman's voice, he noted. "And this is a private channel. Do not contact me again."

"Ambassador? I have information, and a request, from Empress Llawan."

Laquatus paused. Of course. If someone new was using Llawan's mirror, the empress must have given them instructions to do so.

"How do I know Llawan sent you?" Laquatus took off his purple robe and rooted around in his wardrobe for a finer one. Turg menacingly sniffed the trunk with the mirror in it, and Laquatus brought him to heel with a thought.

"Our lady gave me the access to your mirror, Ambassador." Veza said. "She is currently in hiding after another assassination attempt and has asked me to contact you on her behalf. Will you speak to me?"

Laquatus checked his reflection in the full-length mirror. He polished a spot of condensation off his silver horn cap, wrapped the final yard of blue silk around his waist, and tied it tight. Then he picked up the mirror.

"Assassination attempt?" he said urgently. "Is the empress all right?" In the mirror, Veza of Breaker Bay jumped at his sudden appearance.

"Yes, Ambassador. She endures. But she is very, very concerned."

She ought to be, Laquatus thought. He had spent a lot of Aboshan's money to hire the assassins, though in truth they were hired to disfigure Llawan rather than kill her. Laquatus found the empress too useful to discard just yet, but he also wanted her frightened and focused on Aboshan.

Veza was pretty, Laquatus thought, but not beautiful. She was an unknown quantity, however, and therefore interesting. Too far away to affect her thoughts, too unfamiliar to gauge her intent. Laquatus sniffed. Llawan must be desperate if she were reaching out to low-level functionaries to do her spying for her.

"Who were the assassins? Did any of them escape?" Laquatus hoped they hadn't. Survivors would want to be paid the balance of the fee. "No. The empress's guard protected her." Veza's face clouded. "She is concerned about events on Otaria, however. Aboshan's new shipping lanes have not been well received by all. There are those in the depths and especially on the surface who feel cheated, and Llawan fears that she is being made a target for their frustration with the empire as a whole." The scenery behind Veza rolled dizzily as she sat with the mirror in hand. "I've received a number of complaints even here in Breaker Bay."

"Really." Veza was distracted and rooting for paperwork, so Laquatus was free to stare fixedly at her. "I was just discussing the shipping lanes with a syndicate of Cabal merchants. I have made great progress on behalf of the empire in the houses of both Cabal and Order. It would be a crime if my work on behalf of the empire was undone by a violent splinter group of intolerant cephalids at home."

"Of course, Ambassador. It is precisely that kind of effort that Llawan needs."

Laquatus's mind raced. She had just sat down- from a standing position! Veza had suddenly become far more interesting to him.

"Director," Laquatus said, "allow me to congratulate you."

"Ambassador?"

"I know how hard it is for a non-cephalid to achieve any sort of advancement in Mer. They are an old-fashioned people, not given easily to change. You must be extremely adept at your position."

Veza blinked. "Thank you, Ambassador. But I-"

"I think we should meet in person, my dear. There is much we have to discuss, for the good of the empire."

"Of course, Ambassador. When can we-"

"I am always at the empress's service." He glanced at Turg. Growl, he thought.

Turg let out a loud, rumbling half-roar that caused Laquatus to wince.

"Excuse me, Director, but I have an appointment scheduled, and my guest has just arrived. Please excuse this humble diplomat. By my oath, I will contact you as soon as 1 have arranged for our meeting."

For the first time since he picked up the mirror, Veza's expression was less than polite. She seemed to be peering at him as if seeing him clearly for the first time, sizing him up as a potential ally or opponent.

"Thank you, Ambassador.

"Thank you, Director."

"I hope I can count on you to assist me. We are both in a unique position to help the empress, the empire, and ourselves."

"Nothing would please me more. I will make some inquiries and arrange for a time and place to share my findings with you." Provided, of course, Laquatus thought, that it serves my needs, and I haven't had you or the empress killed by then. "As I said before, for the good of the empire."

"Long live the empire. I will await your notice, Ambassador. I can be reached any time, day or night, on this mirror."

"Very well. I, on the other hand, will not be available. I will have to contact you. It could be a matter of hours, or a matter of days. But I will contact you."

Veza scowled. "Agreed. Until then, Ambassador, you have my thanks and those of the empress."

"Long live the empire," Laquatus said. He touched a gem on the mirror's handle, and the vision went blank. Turg belched loudly, and Laquatus muttered, "Go back to sleep," so the great frog rolled happily back onto its side.

Laquatus put the mirror back into the trunk and locked it up tight. He could sort out where to have a clandestine meeting with Veza and what kind of misinformation to feed the empress later. As intrigued as he was with the sight of another merfolk like himself, right now he needed to check in with his Cabal hosts and arrange for a meeting with the First.

Laquatus's spies in the Cabal had told him that an artifact of immense power had been recovered and brought safely into the city. Laquatus had felt the presence of the artifact himself, but he had not been able to determine what, or exactly where, it was. According to his sources in the Order, however, high- level adepts of every description were honing in on the artifact like sharks on a bleeding fish.