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.With the greatest of pleasure, I refuse to repay your loan.""Paraster, Paraster, is this how men grow rich in Athkatla? And keep heads on their shoulders long enough to enjoy anything? Ye can't have learned such imprudence at home! Why, I've been trading in Athkat—""I know, I know, longer than- I've been alive.Old man, spare me your wheezings.The plain truth is you can't harm me right now, with all the shieldings awake around me.You can't hurt me on my way out of Waterdeep from your quaint old mansion because of my magic and all of my guards—not just the ones you see waiting outside your gates, but others who have magic of their own.Even with the influence you shamelessly use by pretending to be a Lord of Waterdeep, you can't seize any city properties from me, because I haven't any! I don't scare, I can't be bluffed, and I don't care.Old Wolf, you're toothless! When all Athkatla, and Water-deep, too, hears of this, it won't be you they'll be cheering or me they'll be laughing at! Do you have any idea how many men have been itching for decades to see old Mirt the Moneylender get his comeuppance? Why, I'll ride into Athkatla a hero!"The old man behind the desk raised one wintry eyebrow."Paraster Montheir, importer of sweet wines from Lapaliiya, our hero? Nay, I can't see that on banners fluttering above the Coinheap of Amn."He stretched, showed his waistcoat some mercy by letting go of it, and continued, "Lad, lad, we both know ye haven't beenunburdened of properties at all! Ye've established three new trading companies whose sole staff are servants already in the pay of one Paraster Montheir, and 'sold' no less than three tall-houses—with tenant shops, mind—six warehouses, and two villas (the which ye no doubt hope I know nothing at all about) to these new-minted companies.The coins all three reap flow right back into a purse emblazoned with the name of 'Paraster Montheir.' Have ye forgotten that the bankers in Water-deep are—ahem—moneylenders? Think ye we never talk to each other? I suppose ye also think the tides come not in and the sun may decide not to rise every morn? The rules of our profession are clear: Debts must be repaid in full and on time, arrears attract Palace-set rates of interest, and deliberate or hostile debtors may be flogged by the creditor, who may choose to accept double the interest owing to refrain from cracking a whip over the miscreant who owes him, or not, or seize goods in lieu—purely as he chooses!"Paraster lifted a hand that glittered with many gem-studded rings, waved it dismissively, and said coolly, "Spit and snarl all you like, Mirt.Three facts remain unchanged for all your blustering: I've torn up my copy of our agreement, you won't dare show yours to any court or guild here or in Athkatla because the last thing you want is for me to tell any city officials what shady and outright illicit activities you've been up to that the bond directly supports and turns upon, and I'm not afraid of the private, outside-the-law muscle you can command."At that moment the Old Wolf's young strumpet in black leathers hastened into the office through a curtained archway that Montheir had thought led only to an alcove.Had the doxy been listening to all of this? Well, silencing her would prove but a trifling trouble and hurt the old moneylender even more keenly! She knelt before the desk, head bowed."Speak, lass," the Old Wolf murmured casually," then depart in all haste.Important trade matters are being discussed."Asper looked up and gasped timidly, "If it pleases my Lord to know, the Lady Mage of Waterdeep has arrived." Her left eyelid—the one on the far side from Montheir's devouring gaze—dropped just a trifle, in a wink that let Mirt know that Laeral had been with her in the alcove, listening to all of the Athkatlan's words.Neither she nor Mirt turned their heads so much as an inch in the wine importer's direction, but they both knew how much he'd suddenly stiffened and gone pale at the mention of Laeral and the sudden thought that she just might be Mirt's outside-the-law muscle.Mirt stared stonily back at her and snapped, "She may approach—on her knees, mind, and begging for mercy.""Yes, Lord," Asper breathed, bowing her head hastily."I shall impart your will to her."She kissed the rug before his boots and backed away from him on her knees, clear across the room to the archway and through its curtain.Once safely unseen by visiting Athkat-lan swindlers, she rose with the suppleness of a snake and a wide grin on her face to find Laeral stifling a giggle.The Lady Mage of Waterdeep gave her a quick, wordless hug and dropped to her own knees.Pinching the inside of her nose high up with two long-nailed fingers so that tears of pain came to her eyes, she let them run artistically down her cheeks, dropped a look of despair across her face, and commenced her own long crawl through the curtain and across the gigantic snowcat-fur rug."Mercy, Lord Mirt," she whimpered, lifting her tearstained face at about the halfway-point of her journey [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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