Note: I just came from watching Rocky Horror Show, and I'm still doing the time warp in my mind. In Swedish. Lucky that the chapter was mostly ready, otherwise the result might have been even stranger.



Chapter 7: Making the plans



Entreri simply could not bring himself to ever trust a woman who made her daily life in that particular line of employ... R. A. Salvatore on Entreri & prostitutes in The Silent Blade



"The way is clear," Aran Linvail said to Shandara, who was sitting in his office, summoned there, in her opinion, too early in the morning. The woman raised an eyebrow questioningly, but then her eyes widened with surprise. "Lord Kheran," she said and Aran nodded. "I never thought it'd happen, but I underestimated your forgers. And those friends in high places who helped," she continued and Aran smiled. He knew that Shandara was aware most of the things that went on in the guild, but this was once again proof of her skills of finding out things that Aran had really tried to hide.



"It's dangerous to be too clever," Aran said and Shandara grinned. "You're not going to say 'you're so sharp you'll cut yourself', are you? The oldest threat there is?" the woman asked. "Although I think the oldest would actually be something in the lines of 'give me fish or me smash you head'. Or something," she added and Aran laughed out loud.



"I think I'll just have to accept that you know everything," Aran sighed. "But it doesn't matter, because I would have had to tell you everything when I asked you for this operation."



"Who else?" Shandara asked, and her voice became more serious, losing its humorous tone. This was business now, something you didn't joke about. "I'll do the seducing, but you still need people to take care of stealing and things like that. There will be traps and magical locks, I'm sure of it."



"Entreri and Jarlaxle," Aran said and Shandara nodded, she had expected this. "Erik will change Jarlaxle's appearance to human, and you will teach them all the necessary skills needed. We'll do this at the time of the ball, so the guards will be even more drunk than usually."



"You want me to teach Artemis Entreri to dance and court rich women?" Shandara asked, sounding astonished. "Then you can start preparing my funeral. He can't stand me, he despises my profession! Jarlaxle is fine, but..."



"He'll do what I tell him to do, or he'll leave," Aran said, thinking whether this was true. Shandara's look revealed that she doubted it, but then the woman shrugged and got up. "I might as well start today. When was the ball? In two weeks? A bit tight schedule, if you want to plan it well."



"I know," Aran sighed. "But it took longer than I had expected to make up the cover story and secure all ends. And to make sure that if questions are asked, the merchant lords, or at least the ones that matter, will support our story. But the basic plan is ready, all we need are the people to make it happen."



"Do I need to do something else?" Shandara asked. "Or are you going to take care of all the details?" Aran looked at her and then replied: "You teach them the ways of the rich and get the seamstresses started on working on the clothes. Something very flamboyant, something that tells they are rich and powerful."



"One more thing," Shandara said slowly, like she was considering her words carefully before speaking. "If both Jarlaxle and Entreri are coming, it seems strange if they have only one woman with them. We should have another in our group."



"Whom did you have in mind?" Aran asked, wondering what the woman had in her mind. Shandara flashed him a smile. "Isaldora. Let me explain," she continued quickly when Aran opened his mouth.



"No need," Aran said. "Would this have something to do with your attempts to play matchmaker? With Mitsu aiding you," he added. "You two are sometimes like little girls, I swear..."



"She is a mage, which can be good thing," Shandara explained hastily. "Sleep spells, charm spells, those kinds of things if we get into a tight spot. She knows how to dance, so she could help with the teaching, and she looks better than I do."



"So the danger would be that Kheran would choose her," Aran said. "You haven't thought about that..."



"Kheran wouldn't sleep with an elf," Shandara said. "He deals with them if it's necessary and tolerates them in his presence, but it's said he would never touch 'a filthy elf'," Shandara said in a loathing voice. "I wouldn't take Isaldora there if I thought there was the danger that the bastard would even try to touch her."



"We'll try it. But if it seems that she can't handle it, you'll take someone else. Someone more... used to these kinds of things," Aran said after a moment of silence. "I have to deal with some delegates from Calimport. Keep Entreri out of the halls until the evening, if you can. I don't want any of the pashas to know that he works for us. At least not yet. I'll talk to Entreri and Jarlaxle as soon as the delegates have left. You can explain the basic idea before that."



"I'll see what I can do," Shandara replied. "And if Entreri kills me, you'll arrange the funeral."



"I promise," Aran said, grinning. He wasn't worried; despite all the things he knew about Artemis Entreri, he doubted that the man would kill a woman simply because she was a prostitute. And Shandara was a survivor. She had outwitted Aran several times; there was little doubt that she couldn't do the same with Artemis Entreri.





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Charon's Claw cut the air and a wall of darkness surrounded the ogre. Entreri heard the baffled grunts and thrust his sword through the wall, impaling the creatures heart. Entreri pulled his sword off and the body slumped forward from behind the wall.



An arrow whirred past him and he turned, counting at least fifteen kobolds with their bows, standing on top of a small hill. Entreri ran towards the temple ruins, hiding behind one of the pillars. Arrows hit the pillar and the wall of the temple, but Entreri was saved. Stupid creatures, he thought and leaned on the pillar, glad of the chance to catch his breath. There had been four ogres, and although all of them used more force than wit, Entreri had caught one painful blow on his back when all four had attacked him at the same time.



The kobolds screamed with anger and Entreri heard some of them running down the hill. Charon's Claw flashed as he rushed to the open, creating another wall between himself and the kobolds. Arrows whirred past him, but not one of then hit him. The voices of the kobolds were baffled, and there was also fear in them. Entreri smiled to himself and attacked.



"Unbelievable," Shandara muttered, staring at the mirrorlike surface that showed Entreri's battle. She had tried to find Jarlaxle, but the drow seemed to have disappeared. He was probably training with Isaldora, although Shandara wondered whether her talk with Isaldora had helped to change the form of the exercise. Looking for Entreri had almost proven to be as equally impossible task, until she had wondered into Erik's room. The gnome had been staring at the dimensional window, conjuring opponents for the assassin to practice on. "How can anyone move like that?"



"Don't ask me," Erik Jansen muttered, looking tired. "He has battled over forty creatures, and I'm running out of spells."



"Wonderful..." Shandara whispered, when Entreri somersaulted to avoid a blow from a new enemy, a barbarian warrior. The ribbon he had tied his hair with had opened in the heat of the battle and his hair was flowing around his face. She sighed, and Erik gave her a long look and then dimmed the reflection on the wall. Shandara turned to look at him, feeling annoyed, and met the gnome's serious look.



"Remember who he is," Erik said. "I mean it. He's dangerous."



"If I admire his appearance, it doesn't mean that I'll do something that'll get me killed," Shandara said defensively. "Why does everyone suddenly treat me like a stupid girl, who can't control herself? I admit it, I find him very attractive! But that's all."



"No need to get angry," Erik muttered, hoping that the woman was telling the truth. "That's it," he continued, returning the reflection back to normal. Entreri had just slit the barbarian's throat open in one graceful movement. "I can't conjure up any more opponents for him. You need to talk to him? I'll teleport you to the room. Far enough so that he'll have time to recognize you."



"And that will prevent him from killing me?" Shandara asked in amused voice. "He might kill me because I'm me. That sounded a bit weird," she muttered when Erik begun casting the teleport spell. "And it probably was grammatically wrong."



Erik suppressed laughter that would've disrupted the spellcasting and only smirked at Shandara when the teleport opened and the woman stepped through.



Entreri stood there with his weapond ready, waiting for next opponent when the world suddenly went blurry. The temple ruins and the hills disappeared at the same time that a magical portal opened. Shandara stepped into the room that was now plain and empty and waved her hand at Entreri."Just me. Don't attack."



"What are you doing here?" Entreri asked coldly. The portal between Shandara started to close, and Entreri saw the worried face of Erik Jansen before the portal closed completely.



"Erik is tired, he's run out of creatures and I need to talk to you," Shandara said, looking around the room. "You'd think there would even be few chairs," she muttered. "You fought well," she added when Entreri still stared her, saying nothing. "Aran sent me, so please, forget how much you despise me for one moment and listen."



"Very well," Entreri said, putting his weapons away. He pushed his hair away from his face and Shandara bit her lip when her annoyingly graphic imagination started to work. She shook the image that had appeared away, deciding to save it for later.



"I think Aran mentioned that you might be needed in one big operation," Shandara said, reminding herself that this was business now. "The time for that is now. I couldn't find Jarlaxle anywhere, so I thought I'd come to you first. Aran will explain you all the details, I'm just here to tell you the main idea."



"And why would Aran send a whore to tell about some important plan?" Entreri asked. Shandara sighed; how could the man be so difficult to deal with. "Because this whore is part of the plan," she said. "Let's go, I'm not going to explain the whole thing standing here. And maybe you would like to change your clothes," she added, eyeing Entreri. The man was wearing black trousers, simple black boots and dark grey shirt that was ripped and revealed part of Entreri's arm. "Not that I'm complaining, you look good like that," Shandara said. It seems, she thought, that around him I can't help myself from flirting. I just love the way it annoys him.



To her surprise Entreri laughed, shaking his head. "You just don't give up, do you?" he asked in amused voice. Shandara looked at him and then smiled back. "I'm defending all working girls," she said. "So if you admit that we're not completely disgusting bunch, I promise that I'll try to behave around you."



"Try?" Entreri asked. He seemed to have eased up a bit, but Shandara decided it wasn't the time for any more of this idle conversation. "Come on, we'll find some place to sit down and I'll explain the situation to you."





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"Lord Kheran is one of the leading merchants in Athkatla," Shandara started to explain when she and Entreri had sat down in the library. The assassin hadn't changed his clothes, and Shandara was doing her best not to let her mind wonder too far from the issue at hand.



"He is also one of the most hated merchants, and he is rumoured to have made some very shady deals with many outsiders. Nobody likes that, neither the other merchants nor the Shadow Thieves, so nobody cares if we steal some of his documents that reveal the people he is doing business with. Then we either blackmail him with the information, or possibly reveal the documents to other merchants. They have hired us to deal with people who oppose them many times, and reward has always been great."



"So what's the plan?" Entreri asked. Although this sounded like a simple theft so far, it was at least something to do, and the assassin wanted some real use for his talents.



"Kheran is holding a grand ball. The guards will be almost as drunk as the guests, at least inside the house. There will be the personal guards of the people participating outside, and they will be alert. That's why we'll march in as guests," Shandara said, pausing to watch Entreri's expression. The assassin said nothing and his expression didn't change at all. Shandara felt shivers going down her spine; did this man feel anything at all?



"Anyway, our spies in Kheran's house have informed us that all important documents are kept in Kheran's bedroom. They are in a box that is behind all kinds of traps, both magical and mechanical. We need the box, but we also need an amulet Kheran wears. It's the only thing that can open the lock of the box."



"Are you sure?" Entreri asked, intrigued by this challenge. "Maybe it can be opened, but not by the thieves you have here." Shandara noticed the sarcastic tone in the man's voice and smiled. Artemis Entreri seemed to be sure of his talents.



"We have talked to the mage who crafted the box. There's no other way," Shandara said. Entreri was quiet for a while and then looked into her eyes. "You keep saying 'we'," the assassin said. "And still I doubt that you have talked to any of these people, or participated in the planning."



Shandara wondered what the man was trying to accomplish, but then decided to go for the honest answer. She had noticed that sometimes it worked. "'We' means the guild. I'm a member and so are you. Whether you like it or not, you are part of us until you leave. Or get killed," Shandara added lightly. "Possibly by sudden rain of fish," she added grinning. "I don't think I thanked you for saving me from that fish."



"No need for that," Entreri sighed. He was starting to wonder whether he could actually have a normal conversation with Shandara. "How does the plan continue? Or do you know more?"



"Well, you and Jarlaxle introduce yourselves as wealthy merchants, we have all the documents to prove it too. Plan few deals with Kheran and finally offer me to keep him company that night. And he won't say no!" Shandara said sharply when she noticed that Entreri was going to say something. "Have some faith in my charms. Besides, if you offer me, it would be impolite for him to refuse. After all, you will be business partners."



"And you'll get the amulet?" Entreri guessed. Shandara nodded and then continued: "But it's not that simple. Kheran opens the chest only once a month, because every time it's opened, the magic in the amulet and the lock weakens. So we have to change the amulet and the box, and he won't notice they are gone for weeks. That gives us enough time to see what we can do with the documents."



"Switch the amulet and the box for copies, which you must have ready," Entreri said, not even intending it as a question. "And do it during a party, so that everybody is so drunk they don't remember anything. Wonderful," he muttered.



"It is, isn't it!" Shandara exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Oh, how I love these... I'm doing it again," she said when Entreri looked at her calmly. "I don't know why, but you just bring out the worst part of me."



"Believe me, if I did, I'd do something about it," Entreri said dryly. Shandara looked at him sharply and then smiled: "Was that just humour?"



"I'll go and talk to Aran," Entreri said, starting to get up. "You can't go there!" Shandara said quickly. "Aran is meeting some delegates from Calimport and he doesn't want them to know that you're working for us. Just in case. After all, we challenge some of the guilds in Calimport, and the pashas may be more hostile towards us if they know you are here. It's all so complicated," she sighed. "So Aran wishes that you would stay out of the halls. Here," Shandara said, walking to the nearest bookshelf and picked a book. "A book on etiquette. Enjoy."



"Are you serious?" Entreri said, staring at the book Shandara put on the table in front of him. "Not really," she replied. "But there are lots of other books here, read some. Just stay out of the main halls. We don't want any trouble."



The assassin was left alone in the library. He stared at the book in front of him and couldn't help but smile. This was starting to be so strange that he was beginning to like it. He opened the book and started to leaf through it. He might as well spent his time that way.