A few others began to eat as well, but some of the guests got up to have more discreet conversations with others. Naglatha stood as well.

She placed her hand lightly on Tazi's shoulder and whispered, "I need this time to talk to a few of my colleagues. Feel free to have something to eat as well."

Tazi watched as Naglatha slipped over to where Nevron and Lauzoril were seated. She placed her hand, as she had with Tazi, delicately on the older man's shoulder and immediately became engrossed in a serious discussion.

Tazi observed the various groupings around her. More than one had become heated. The words "Thay" and "trade" and "army" were tossed around a bit. Whenever anyone got too impassioned, one or more of their immediate companions would remind them where they were, and that wizard would then compose him or herself. Tazi was so engrossed in the wizards' discussions, she was barley aware when another servant came over to her and the duergar and placed plates piled high with delicacies in front of them.

She did see Justikar sniff at his food and take a small bite of some of the meats on his plate. He scowled foully, and Tazi shook her head. She suspected that nothing except metalworking could ever bring a smile to his grim features. She turned to say something to him, but he fixed her with such an unpleasant look, she turned back to eavesdrop on the conversation to her left.

"I still think gnolls are the next to try experimenting with," she heard one wizard tell another and proceeded to expound on the creatures' virtues as soldiers. She absently picked at the food on her plate and brought a forkful of cheese to her lips, barely noticing what she was doing. The next moment, she felt a powerful blow to her stomach and realized the duergar had punched her directly in the stomach.

Tazi bent over her plate slightly and had no choice but to cough up the food she had just eaten. She wiped at her mouth and threw her napkin into her plate. Livid, she whipped her head around toward Justikar and opened her mouth to demand an explanation, but a strange event stopped her in her tracks.

Poison, she heard the dwarf speak inside her head.

What? she thought.

I said, the dwarf thought angrily, there was poison in the food.

How? demanded Tazi.

You obviously didn't notice, the dwarf explained, but we had a different server from everyone else. Didn't you see that all the others and their servants got to choose what they wanted while we were brought plates already full of food?

But-

My kind has a tolerance for the stuff, he told her gruffly, so even though I had some, I'll be fine. You probably would not have been so lucky. Obviously, he added, a colleague ofNaglatha is less impressed with us than that lich was.

What I'm trying to ask, Tazi said, is how can you be doing this? How can you be inside my thoughts?

Oh, Justikar replied, that. Centuries ago, my kind was ruthlessly enslaved by illithids. We developed a limited, mental ability over time because of it.

This might come in handy, she told him after a moment.

I think it already has, he shot back at her.

Tazi smiled ruefully and nodded slightly in wordless agreement.

One thing, she added. Next time you suspect poison or something like it, why don't you just tell me instead. She rubbed her stomach lightly. The dwarf, however, didn't say another word.

Later that Night

Tazi and Justikar sat in their room, without speaking. Just as the dwarf had said, the poison in their food made him somewhat ill. He had wretched into a chamber pot violently upon their return. Tazi moistened a cloth and offered it to him after he had emptied his stomach contents into the container. But he had pushed the offer aside and dragged his sleeve across his mouth.

"At least this rag has some uses," he grumbled, referring to the gaudy tunic Naglatha's men had provided him with after the griffon attack. "Are you going to vomit, too?" he asked, and Tazi thought he might actually be concerned for her.

"No, I'm fine," she thanked him.

"Good. I'm not doing her bidding alone," he replied.

So much for concern, Tazi mused.

And they sat in silence, waiting for the black-haired wizard to make an appearance. In fact, they sat for several hours waiting for Naglatha's return. Neither spoke, and Tazi used the time to mull over what she had seen during the evening's events while she sat in the windowsill of a trompe I'oeil, one leg dangling over the side and the other propped up against the window frame. She glanced over several times to the dwarf, but he simply sat hunched over on the small stool, his hands planted firmly on his thighs, a dour expression on his face. She wasn't sure if he was angry or perhaps contemplating the fate of his brother.

He's probably more eager to go than I am, Tazi thought. At least I am fairly confident my family is safe right now. He knows nothing about his brother, other than he lost contact with him.

She started to ask him about his sibling when Na-glatha quietly opened their door.

"Good," she said without preamble, walking over to stand between where they were seated, "you're both here."

"As if we had a choice?" Tazi quipped.

"You didn't," Naglatha replied easily, "but that didn't stop you before, now did it? "

Scrutinizing their "host's" face, Tazi could see a rosy stain across Naglatha's cheeks. Tazi wondered if the wizard had imbibed too much of the wine at dinner, or if the flush was from the excitement of her anticipated success.

"What now?" the duergar demanded, and Tazi felt sure it was impatience to find his brother that was weighing on him. She believed he wanted to proceed more than anyone else in the room at that moment.

"Now is when you go get me those spells, little man," and her tone turned deadly. She regarded the dwarf coldly.

"It's time, then?" Tazi asked her in an attempt to turn her attention away from Justikar. If she was drunk, then chances were her actions would be even more unpredictable than they had been previously, and Tazi knew Justikar was only alive because she had asked it. Naglatha hated the duergar, and Tazi was unsure if that hatred was for him alone, or if her dislike spilled over to anything dwarven. She didn't want to find out.

Naglatha turned back to Tazi and said, "Yes, it will have to be tonight. Tomorrow, Szass Tam will hold his council," she said, "and after he beats it into us all again that we must continue to make trade our highest priority, he will find a way to politely evict us one by one." She sighed deeply. "I don't think this chance will come again," she added, "not for a very long while."

"Then" Tazi asked, "where do we start? You've mentioned his book of spells several times, but you haven't given us an exact location."

"That's because I can't," she replied simply.

"Helpful," the dwarf spat.

"Do you have an idea where to start?' Tazi asked, redirecting the wizard from the duergar.

"There is a chamber I know of just beyond the banquet hall that descends into the lower depths of the Citadel," she told Tazi. "Follow it down. Supposedly you will find rooms of fabulous jewels and metals below. Not far past them will be the chamber that contains one of Szass Tarn's vast collections of spells. There," she breathed deeply, "you should see his prize book. Take it, or take as many of the spells that you can. But bring them to me."

"Not much to go on," Tazi replied. "And I'm certain there will be guards on so valuable an item. Not asking for too much, are you?" she inquired, unable to contain her sarcasm any longer.

Naglatha walked up to where she sat so nonchalantly and gripped Tazi hard under her chin. "I never said it was going to be easy," she hissed. "If this was meant to be a simple task, anyone would do." She released her biting grip on Tazi's flesh with a jerk and smiled again.