Stiletto began an indignant reply, but he never finished it.

Kellen whistled three sharp notes of music and stretched out an arm. On the wall, the silhouette of his hand touched the shadow cast by Stiletto. Kellen flexed his fingers and Stiletto's cowl was jerked back, revealing his startled visage. The crime lord was a small, weasely man with close-cropped brown hair, darting eyes, and crooked teeth. He grinned sheepishly as the companions stared in astonishment. At last, it was Jewel's scathing voice that spoke.

"You have quite a bit of explaining to do, Ferret Talondim!"

* * * * *

"You've hurt her feelings terribly, you know." Cormik, murmured. "I know," Ferret replied sadly.

They were alone now; the little thief had sent his masked servants away. He cast a fleeting look at his grandmother. She stood on the far side of the octagonal chamber, where Mari and Kellen were doing their best to calm her. Jewel stalked lithely back and forth, looking almost like a dangerous violet panther in her dusk-purple leathers.

"Honor doesn't mean much to thieves," Ferret went on, "but blood does. I suppose my operations have been cutting into Grandmother's business."

Morhion gave the thief a hard look. "I think you err in judging the source of your grandmother's ire, Ferret. Whatever she might say, I imagine she cares little enough for any gold you have cost her. I would say she is angry at the grief you have caused her by letting her believe that you were dead." Mari cast a furious look in their direction. "And I suspect Jewel may not be the only to feel that way," the mage added meaningfully. Ferret swallowed hard. "Perhaps I acted recklessly. I suppose, now that Grandmother knows I'm not really dead, she'll go ahead and kill me anyway." Across the room. Jewel let out a particularly blistering array of expletives. Cormik raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "You may be right." He laid a ring-laden hand ferret's bony shoulder. "Unless, of course, you go over right now and speak to her. You are her grandson, after all. And her favorite, from everything I've heard. That might still count for something."

Ferret nodded uneasily. "I suppose it's worth a try. If nothing else, maybe if I beg for mercy she'll make my demise a little less painful."

Morhion poked a finger against Ferret's chest. "And when you've finished explaining things to Jewel, you can start explaining them to the rest of us. Last we knew, you were lost in the destruction of the Shadowking's crypt beneath Iriaebor. I'm very interested to learn how you got from there to here, and you're going to satisfy my curiosity. Understood?"

Ferret's eyes bulged out. "I hope you're not expecting me to say I'm looking forward to it."

"Frankly" Morhion countered, "I'd be happier if you were dreading it."

"You would, Morhion," Ferret said with a grimace and scurried across the room.

Morhion allowed himself the bare suggestion of a smile.

It was good to see the little thief again. The world had been a duller place without him.

Mari approached, gripping Kellen's hand. "Let's give Jewel and Ferret a little space," she suggested, and they withdrew to the far side of the room. It was only a short while later that Jewel and Ferret strode toward them.

The weasely thief was grinning his crooked-toothed grin, and now the matriarch of the Talondim clan was smiling as well, though there was a slightly perturbed light in her eyes.

"It's all right," Ferret pronounced in his raspy voice, "We've made up."

"That was quick," Morhion noted dubiously.

"He didn't play fair," Jewel complained.

"What do you mean?" Mari asked.

"He kissed my cheek and told me that he loved me," Jewel said, as if this were a tremendous outrage.

Ferret beamed. "Even a grandmother as remarkable as my Jewel can't resist kisses from her favorite grandchild."

A scowl cast a shadow across Jewel's ageless face. "You always were the slyest scion of my clan," she muttered.

Cormik adjusted his jewel-encrusted eyepatch. "I hate to interrupt this sweet but twisted family reunion, but perhaps it's time we told Ferret why we were searching for 'Stiletto' in the first place."

Minutes later, they gathered in a sumptuously appointed chamber deep in the underground warrens that were Ferret's—or Stiletto's—hideout.

"Not bad," Cormik said with grudging approval as he eyed the room's mahogany furniture and thick tapestries. "Not bad at all, for an amateur." Cormik, of course, was an expert on luxury.

Soon the companions were seated in comfortable chairs, sipping rich red wine. Morhion savored his glass. It had been a long time since he had drunk such an exquisite vintage. He wondered when, if ever, he would have such an opportunity again. Despite himself, he cast a fleeting glance at Mari. Her eyes were intent on Ferret as the thief began recounting what had befallen him after they defeated the Shadowking in the tomb beneath Iriaebor.

"It was only last year, Mari, that I finally learned you had survived the bolt of magic that Lord Snake struck you with in the Shadowking's tomb," Ferret explained in his raspy voice. "I was glad to hear it. When Caledan and Morhion and the others ran from the crypt with you in their arms, I thought you were dead. Of course, when those stone doors shut, trapping me inside the tomb, I thought I was dead, too. The entire place was coming down around my ears. I was certain I was a goner. So I said to myself, 'All right, Ferret, my boy—if you're about to cough up the ghost and head to that big dungeon in the sky, you might as well go in style." He rubbed his nimble hands together. "I dodged the falling stones and grabbed all the burial treasure—gold and silver and jewels—that I could find, making a big pile. Then I sat on the pile, thinking that at least I had everything I ever wanted in life, and waited for the rock that would bash my brains." Ferret paused, his beady eys glowing. "That was when I saw it." Morhion murmured two words. "The Shadowstar."

"So that's what it's called," Ferret said softly. "Of course-what else would it be named?" After a pause, he went on. "I looked down, I don't know why, and saw a strange medallion half-buried in the heap of treasure. It was dark and shining at the same time, and without even thinking, I picked it up." Ferret's pointed noise crinkled in thought. "I'm not sure if it really used words, but it talked to me. At first I wasn't certain what it was saying. It's a little hard to concentrate when one is caught in a shower of boulders and is expecting to get flattened like a bug at any second. After a few moments, I realized that it-the medallion, the Shadowstar—was asking me something." His beady eyes went distant. "It was asking me if I wanted it to take me away from the crumbling tomb. Needless to say, I answered yes." He shook his head in wonder. "The next thing I knew, the crypt was gone, and I was sitting on a hill north of Soubar. What was more, the medallion had brought the pile of treasure along."

"How thoughtful of it," Cormik muttered darkly. "So that's where you found the capital to set yourself up as a crime lord. That really wasn't fair, you know. It took me years to get to that point in my career."

Ferret gave an unimpressed shrug. "I never knew thieving was about fairness, Cormik," he said dryly. "It's a fascinating theory. You'll have to convene a council of guildmasters and tell them all about it. I'm sure they'll be quite receptive to the idea."

"Oh, quit rubbing it in," Cormik said petulantly. "I'm just jealous, of course. You needn't chastise me for it. It's perfectly natural, after all."

"You're right, Cormik," Ferret conceded. "The gold did give me the foundation for building up quite a profitable business. Of course, all the money in the world is nothing if you don't have a natural talent for the illicit and illegal, which fortunately I do."