"Sir, he was also confused," Tycho replied quickly. "He had by his own admission just been savagely robbed and was also, I have learned, desperately hungry. In that state, he was focused on only one thing and would say anything to obtain it. I believe if you test him further, you'll find that even the basic comprehension you assume is lacking." The magistrate frowned and look at Li again.

"What is my name?" he said slowly and with emphasis. Tycho turned as well. This time his eyes flicked over his shoulder and toward the dais. His right hand made a tight shaking motion. No, a rapping motion.

Li put on a pleasant smile and bowed. "Your name is Respect," he said in an accent so thick it made him cringe. "Respect the Magistrate!"

The guards chuckled immediately. On the dais, Dorth slammed his rod down. "Respect for the magistrate!" he said automatically and flushed. In response, Li folded his arms and bent in an even deeper bow.

"Respect the Magistrate!" he repeated.

"No, respect/or him!" Dorth pointed desperately at Vanyan. "Respect hinil

"Yes," Li agreed. "He is Respect. Respect the Magistrate!"

Dorth was practically shaking with frustration. Mard was red. The guards were desperately trying to hold in laughter. Even the magistrate seemed amused. Tycho was suppressing a smile. "That's enough," he told Li in Shou. "They got the point."

"If we get out of this," replied Li in a pleasant tone, "I'm going to beat you senseless."

"I'll worry about that later. Pretend I'm telling you Vanyan's real name now."

Li changed his smile to an expression of surprise and horror, bent into the deepest bow yet, and switched back to Common. "I am very sorry, honored sir. Your name is Vanyan. Vanyan the Magistrate. I am very sorry."

"You see, sir?" Tycho told the magistrate. "And this morning he didn't properly understand what Captain Dantakain was saying to him either. When the captain asked him if he was an ambassador from Shou, he completely misunderstood. He is in fact a member of the Shou imperial bureaucracy and so it could be said that he does represent Shou Lung. He called on Captain Dantakain because it seemed proper at the time to go to the most senior member of the Guard. And in his confused state, he mistook me for someone else. When I replied that I didn't know him, he took my words for an insult and was justifiably very angry. It was all just a misunderstanding. Indeed, we have already made our peace." Tycho clapped an arm amiably around Li's shoulder's.

Mard Dantakain practically exploded. "Now hold on," he sputtered. "That's not right!" He thrust a finger at Li. "Magistrate, I swear to you that when I talked to this man this morning, he absolutely understood everything I said. Everything! And now you expect me to believe that it was all just a clever imitation like… like a talking parrot!" He spun to glare at Vanyan. "I demand you put an end to this!"

The magistrate just tilted his head. Dorth, on the other hand, drew a shocked breath and raised his rod, ready to rap it again. Vanyan reached out and caught his arm. "I think we've had enough of that, Dorth." He looked down at Mard. "Very well, captain. I will end it." He pushed himself to his feet in front of the heavy chair of his office. "I have heard the testimony of both parties," he said formally, "and I am satisfied by what I have heard. It seems to me that no harm was intended and no damage inflicted that has not been resolved. Under the laws of Altumbel and Spandeliyon, I find no reason to hold Tychoben Arisaenn on the charges of brawling and assault nor Kuang Li Chien on the same as well as forcible entry and impersonation."

Mard howled in protest even as Dorth finally brought his staff down again and proclaimed "The magistrate has ruled!" At Li's side, Tycho let out a whoop of triumph. Li, however, grabbed his arm out of the air.

"You're forgetting something!" he hissed in Shou, nodding toward the magistrate's dais. Vanyan was still standing and he was looking back at them again.

"There is," the magistrate said somberly, "the matter of the additional charge against Tychoben Arisaenn: moral corruption of Laera Dantakain." He seated himself once more. "I have not heard your testimony on that charge, Master Arisaenn. It does seem to me that Captain Dantakain has a legitimate complaint against you."

Mard swung around to glare at Tycho, vicious victory on his face. Tycho blinked, but swept into another grace ful bow without hesitation. Li found himself holding his breath as the singer smiled and began, "Honored sir, Cap tain Dantakain has simply never before seen the famous 'vigorous harp' technique of Waterdeep

"Tycho, is that really how ladies of quality play the harp in Waterdeep?" asked Li as they walked out of the guard station and into afternoon sunlight.

"If they don't, they should learn. It sounds like an interesting technique. If I ever get to Waterdeep, maybe I'll teach them." Tycho drew a deep breath of cold, fresh air. It smelled very good. He hitched his coat around himself and adjusted his strilling under its leather flap. True to Jacerryl's word, everything that had been taken from them-or rather from Tycho since Li had nothing to take-had been waiting for them when they walked out of Magistrate Vanyan's chamber. The little tin tube of beljurils included.

Tycho had sighed with relief, given it a quick shake, and sighed again at the sound of muffled rattling within. It had been hard enough worrying about getting himself and Li out of jail without worrying about the gems and their now belated delivery as well!

Li was looking back at the jail with a certain amount of frustration. Tycho stopped. "What?" he asked.

"That guard-Desmada. It doesn't seem right to walk away without revealing her corruption. She took Lander's coin to look the other way. In Shou Lung, she wouldn't get away with that!"

"You're telling me that there isn't one guard in Shou Lung who accepts bribes?" Tycho shook his head. "Desmada works for Brin, Li. If you had tried to bring up her corruption, we'd still be sitting in that cell."

"Does everyone in Spandeliyon work for Brin?"

Tycho grimaced. "A lot of people do," he said. "But only a few people do it willingly." He slapped Li's shoulder. "Don't worry. Some people work for his rivals!"

"That's very comforting."

"Tycho!" Mard Dantakain's voice echoed on the street and Tycho flinched. He turned slowly. Mard was stalking down the steps of the guard station, each pace tightly controlled as though he might fly to pieces if he let his guard down. That probably wasn't far from the truth. Tycho took a deep breath and stood his ground.

"What is it, Mard?"

"I owe you pay for this morning's lesson." He reached out and took Tycho's hand, turning it over and slapping coins into his palm with such force that the bard winced. TVcho looked down. Two gold coins stamped with circled dragons. He glanced up at Mard.

"Coins from Waterdeep." "Indeed," replied Mard coldly. "It seemed appropriate. They'll also be your final payment. Laera's lessons are now finished. I don't want to see you at my house again." His eyes glittered and he leaned close. "In fact," he said, "I'd recommend you take care that I don't see you again at all." He glared at Li as well. "Either of you."

He turned sharply and marched away. Tycho glowered after him, but slipped the coins into his pouch anyway and sighed. Li looked at him. "I cost you your job."

Tycho shrugged. "Waves roll in; waves roll out." If he had still been traveling, he might simply have boarded the next ship to leave port and moved on to richer pickings in another town. He might have lost the pay from tutoring Laera Dantakain, but there was still the Wench's Ease and-if he could find another discrete way of meeting Jacerryl-he'd still have his delivery runs. The little tube of beljurils wouldn't be the last thing Mard's brother would bring into Spandeliyon. It would all work out. "Waves will roll in again."